Taking Flight
by Alixinsanity
Summary: Neither Fili or Kili wanted to return to the family home for Christmas, but Thorin convinced them to. That was how Fili and Kili found themselves back in the Erebor Mansion, surrounded by their large family; and having to pretend to be just brothers. Modern AU Established Relationship
1. Chapter 1

Sorry for the sucky summary. Please note that Kili is 15 at the beginning of the fic, and turns 16 in the fic. If you don't like him being slightly underage for a short period of time please consider this a warning.Chapter 1

Fili smiled as he glanced at where his brother was half slouched against the car door frame, in a position that would be considered uncomfortable to anyone who was awake. Kili had a knack for twisting himself into the most impossible shapes whilst asleep, only to wake up complaining about being in such an awkward position. Still smiling, Fili turned his eyes back to the road; the shortness of the winter days, having already painted the afternoon sky black.

They were driving across country, heading towards their old family home for the holidays. It was something that neither of them were particularly looking forward too; the idea of the trip hung like a black cloud over them. Phone calls from their mother was a rare occurrence, and usually consisted of her trying to convince them that it was in everyone's best interests if Kili was to return home. This phone call had been different though; she had almost sounded like a normal loving mother when she first asked them to return to the family home for Christmas. However Fili had hesitated in his response a moment too long and the loving attitude dropped from Dis faster than rain in a storm. Fili had held the phone at arm's length as he listened to his mother shouting down the line; the usual threats of calling social services, and cutting him from the Family and all of its inheritance. Fili knew how to deal with those threats, as they were just words thrown about so often that they had long since lost meaning.

This time the phone call had been different, before Dis could shift from shouting to screaming, Thorin had taken the phone off of his sister. Their uncle's voice seemed almost soft in comparison to their mother's shouts which had echoed throughout the room; Kili had walked over to stand next to Fili as soon as he realized who was now on the phone. Although they weren't particularly close to the man, both brothers preferred their uncle over their mother and father. Thorin had always been the one who would stop arguments, often taking the boys side over Dis'. The man had a way with words, convincing their mother to back down from some of their biggest arguments; however it also meant that occasionally Thorin was able to convince Fili and Kili to do things. He was the one who managed to convince the two brothers to return from for the winter holidays, and Fili had found himself lacking a chance to say 'No'. Despite their uncle's assurances that it would be a good thing for them both to return home for a short while, it did nothing to ease the dread that had already began filling both of their guts.

Less than a month later they had packed up Fili's car with their bags; Fili sneaking Kili's school books in when he was sure his younger brother was not looking, and Kili sneaking out Fili's work files when he was sure that the older man was not paying attention. It was mid-afternoon by the time they finally left their little house, deciding to leave after Kili got back from school. It was a long drive, and they had already planned to stop the night in a hotel halfway through the journey; the last thing they needed was to already be in a vile mood by the time they arrived at the house. They had sung along to the radio and the random songs that Kili kept flicking to on his iPod, before the teenager slowly began to drift off. Fili had turned down the sound when he noticed his brother's eyes slowly dropping, reaching behind him for the jacket that he had threw in the back seat. Handing the jacket to Kili, Fili glanced over every so often, smiling as he saw his brother curled up beneath his coat. He continued on the drive in silence, the music playing from the radio barely audible.

The sky was pitch black by the time they pulled up in the car park for the hotel. It wasn't anything fancy, they only need somewhere where they could eat a meal and then go to sleep. Unlike some of their family, neither of the brothers cared for a lavish lifestyle, often finding that the simpler things were better. Fili gently nudged Kili awake, his heart melting slightly as he watched his younger brother swat at his hand before rubbing at his eyes in an almost childlike manner.

"Come on sleepy head, we're at the hotel. One last night of freedom," Fili joked, both of them ignoring the bite in his words. It was their last night of freedom, their last night of peace, and the last time they would be able to share a bed. Already Fili was looking forward to the long drive back up north towards their little cottage.

"I'm awake." Kili mumbled, grabbing at Fili's coat, bringing it up over his head as he tried to bury himself inside the soft fabric.

"Uh huh, sure you are," Fili chuckled, pulling the bottom of the coat up, slipping his head underneath the fabric to press a small kiss to the top of his brother's nose. "I'll go check us in; you sit here and pretend you're awake." Kili just nodded underneath the coat that he was still hiding underneath; causing a smile that stayed on Fili's face as he got of the car and walked into the reception to check in.

Trying to get Kili out of the warmth of the car took several attempts, before Fili admitted defeat, picking his brother up in his arms, kicking the passenger door closed behind him. The blonde didn't think about the looks that they received as he walked through the hotel reception and towards the elevators, the younger man not making any effort towards standing up, quite happy to be cradled against Fili's chest. As the elevator doors slid closed behind them, Kili nuzzled against his brothers neck, affectionately placing a small kiss on Fili's bearded jaw. Kili loved Fili's beard, it suited his brother, and teamed well with the long blonde hair that Fili generally kept tied up. Kili was just about to press another kiss to the blonde's jaw, when the elevator doors slid open, and an elderly woman joined them in the lift. She smiled warmly at the pair, before asking, "Honeymoon?"

"No ma'am. Just had a long journey today," Fili smiled, always polite.

"Well, regardless, it's sweet to see a couple being affectionate." Fili smiled again in response, bidding the woman a goodbye when they reached their floor. The blonde made Kili stand for a moment, as he fought with getting the key in the door, before swinging his little brother back into his arms, walking him over the room's threshold.

The room was much like the rest of the hotel, simple. The bed nearly filled the room; the clean white sheets made it look like a cloud in the darkness. Fili slowly walked over to it, gently placing his brother down on the soft fabric; Kili smiled cheekily before stretching out across of it, his long limbs trying to touch each edge as he rolled into the middle of the bed. Fili just rolled his eyes at his brother, leaving the room to fetch a small overnight bag from the back of the car.

When he returned, Fili frowned as he saw Kili curled up on the far edge of the bed. Kili despite sleeping in awkward positions also tended to sleep taking up as much space as he could; and seeing the teenage boy curled up on one side sent warning bells running through Fili's mind.

"We're not going to be able to do this there, are we?" Kili mumbled; his usually loud boisterous voice now barely audible in the room.

"No." Fili admitted, as he climbed onto the bed, lying behind his brother. He gently reached out placing a hand against the brunette boy's shoulder, before moving closer and pressing himself entirely against Kili's back. The blonde felt his brothers sigh; Kili's body slumped in defeat.

"I don't want to go."

"It's only for a few weeks, I don't want to either. But we have already said we will, and we are now halfway there." Fili reasoned, with both Kili and with himself.

"We're also halfway home." Kili retorted, spinning around in his brother's embrace so that he could stare into the blonde's blue eyes. The younger brother pressed his hands up against Fili's firm chest, fingers stroking over the t-shirt that was separating him from touching the skin. "I don't know if I can do this."

"It's only for a few weeks," Fili repeated, pressing a kiss to his brother's forehead.

"How am I meant to treat you like a brother, when you are so much more than that!" Kili snapped, angry at the situation, and angry at how much of a taboo his life was. Fili sighed, one hand drawing circles on his brothers back, whilst the other stroked the soft strands of hair that fell to Kili's shoulders.

"Kee… I know it's hard, but we can get through this, it's-"

"If you dare say 'It's only for a few weeks' I will smack you," Kili frowned, before letting out a little chuckle as Fili beamed at him.

"I love you," Fili said, rolling onto his back; his hold on his brother unrelenting as Kili moved with him, leaving him lying with his head against the blonde's chest.

"Hmph, I should bloody well hope so…" the brunette teenager quipped, before whispering sincerely, "I love you too." Fili squeezed his brother against him at the words, every time they were said made his heart melt. Together they laid there, finding comfort in each other as they embraced. It wasn't a comfortable position for Fili, his brothers hair tickled at his chin, and Kili's arm was pressed against his ribs; but regardless Fili didn't care, he loved being able to hold his brother regardless of the uncomfortable position.

They whispered goodnights into the dark room as they were slowly pulled into sleep fully dressed, neither wanting to leave the hug to change into their sleep clothes. For the night they forgot about their worries for the next day, and ignored the hours they had left before they had to pretend to be only brothers.

Notes: I hope you enjoy this. I will hopefully update this regularly, but I do run my own business and I am doing a degree, so apologies if I am occasionally slow. As usual, this fic is dedicated for my lovely darling, hope this gives you feels. Originally inspired by "Brothers on a hotel bed" By Death Cab for Cutie


	2. Chapter 2

_"You don't know what you're talking about Kili." Fili snapped, as he attempted to turn his back on his little brother. The brunette had been growing up so quickly, and although Fili came home from university often, there was always a mountain of changes every time he saw him. He was becoming unrecognizable from the twelve year old who had refused to accept that his big brother was leaving home. Before he could fully turn away from the young man that his brother had become, Fili felt Kili's hand wrap around his wrist. Looking down at the wrist, Fili couldn't help but wonder how long Kili had been able to wrap his hand fully around it; thumbs touching fingers._

_"I do know what I am saying. Don't lie to me and say that you don't feel the same way." Kili replied, not letting go of the blonde's wrist, fearing that his brother may run away from the situation. They were stood in the living room of Fili's cottage; Kili had turned up unannounced with his life packed into a rucksack and a holdall bag. It wasn't an unusual thing for the blonde to open his front door to find his brother on the doorstep; Kili had been doing it ever since Fili had started his degree three years previously. Normally though, the unexpected arrival didn't just show up, dump his bags in the middle of the living room floor and make proclaims of love._

_When Fili didn't reply, Kili, keeping hold of his brothers wrist, slowly moved so that he could stand in front of the blonde. "Tell me I'm right." Kili let go of his brother's wrist, as once again Fili remained silent; his hand slowly moved up the length of his brother's arm, stopping as they reached his shoulders._

_Fili took a deep intake of breath, as the brunette stepped slightly closer. His hands wanted to automatically reach out and rest on his brother's hips; they only remained tightly by the blonde's side by sheer will power. Still his brother took another small step forward, closing the small gap that had remained between them. "Tell me I'm right." Kili repeated once more, before leaning forward until there was only a sliver of air between their lips. "Tell me I'm right," the teenager breathed into the air, his hot breath burning at Fili's skin._

_"You're right."_

Fili woke to the feeling of his brother slowly stroking his hair; Kili's long fingers gently tangling in the long blonde strands. "Now this is surely a sign of the apocalypse, you're the one awake first," the older man grinned, as he opened his eyes to the light room. They had forgotten to close the curtains, and as a result the winter morning sun shone through the window; the light hit Kili's back, making it look like the brunette was glowing. "You're beautiful."

Kili rolled his eyes at his brother's words, rolling the blonde onto his back before straddling his hips. Leaning down, he kissed him, neither of them caring about morning breath. "You're soppy." Kili retorted as he pulled away from the kiss, still remaining seated on his brothers lap. Fili entwined their fingers together as he pushed himself into a seated position; leaning back against the headboard. At some point in the night they had moved underneath the duvet, though they still remained fully dressed in yesterday's clothes.

"We should probably get up and have a shower." Fili commented, pressing a kiss to his brother's cheek as he let go of the younger man's hands, before manoeuvring him off of his lap. Crawling out of the bed, the blonde stretched his arms up to the ceiling, sighing in content at the click in his back at the action. Turning around, he smiled at the sight of Kili's pouting face. Fili's grin filled his face as he grabbed his brother, pulling him into his arms and lifting him up off of the bed, before walking towards the en-suite bathroom.

"I did say 'We' should get up and have a shower."

They ended up spending more time than necessary in the shower, hands spent too long roaming over each other, instead of cleaning themselves. Kili tried to draw out breakfast for as long as possible, trying to put off the inevitable journey towards their family house. Fili didn't call his brother out on his actions though; perfectly happy to sit opposite the brunette, alternating between staring at Kili's self-conscious smile and down into his coffee cup.

Fili wasn't looking forward to going home either. His relationship with his mother had been strained for years, and after Kili had moved to the other side of the country to live with him, the relationship had been bordering on non-existent. His uncle was the reason why he had not fully cut off contact with the woman. Thorin had done so much for the brothers, and Fili felt like he owed the man, so he put up with the small amount of contact he had with Dis.

The brothers finally decided that they had been avoiding the upcoming situation for long enough, as they got into Fili's car, both sighing as they closed the car doors behind them. Fili pulled his long hair into a bun, fingers brushing against the braid that Kili had put into his hair earlier that morning after their escapades in the shower. Smiling to himself as he pulled the braid into the bun with the rest of his hair, the older man looked over towards his younger brother on the other side of the car; the glimpse of the small braid at the base of his skull, that Fili had put in the brunettes hair earlier on.

Braids were a tradition in their family, a tradition that's story differed from person to person. One of the only things that remained constant in the stories was that only you or your true love could tie braids into your hair. Fili remembered his brother response when the brunette was first told the story, Kili had only been 5 at the time, but he still threw his arms around his big brothers neck announcing to the room that he wanted Fili to put braids in his hair.

The room had been filled with their family: Dis, Balin, Dwalin, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori. Thorin had been talking business when Kili had come running into the room, wanting to be involved. Fili and Ori, both older than Kili had come running in after the brunette, too late to stop him from interrupting. Dis had instantly got up, ready to usher the children out of the room, a stony glare on her face, but Thorin had stopped her. He simply picked Kili up and placed him on his knee, whilst Fili and Ori moved to sit down at his feet. Fili and Ori had heard the story years before, but even then at ages eleven and nine respectively; they sat down to hear it again. When Kili had announced he wanted Fili to put braids in his hair, Fili could remember Dis' face dropping in a mix of shock and disgust. At eleven, he didn't understand why his mother had been so disgusted, but when he was thirteen he realized why she had been disgusted.

Now as Fili saw the small braid peeking out from underneath the rest of Kili's hair, he no longer cared if his mother was disgusted. She didn't need to know about their love. No one in the family did.

The journey to the house was long, and mainly silent. No music was played this time; they both knew that the noise would do nothing to cure the uneasy tension that was building the closer they got to their destination. The Erebor mansion was located just outside of London, in the middle of a large section of land. Trees stood on both sides of the long driveway, partially shielding the gardens and land from view. The driveway was several miles long, and after Fili had gotten through the gates, he gripped Kili's hand over the gearstick, for the ten minutes it took them before they caught a glimpse of the mansion. As soon as the large house was in sight, the large grey walls standing tall against the blue sky, Fili dropped his brother's hand.

The drive widened the closer they got to the house, eventually turning into a large bricked circle. Parking up next to his uncles Ferrari, Fili automatically felt out of place in his family, as he turned off the engine to his Skoda Yeti. His car sat surrounded by cars that were ten times as expensive, and he knew that it would be on the list of things that his mother was bound to comment on. Wanting nothing more than to grab Kili's hand again, the blonde bit his lip before forcing a smile at his brother. He had to show strength here; he knew that his brother didn't want to be here either, but they were now.

Stepping out of the car, they walked side by side towards the large front door. They had barely made it to the first step, before the door swung open in front of them.  
>"Fili. Kili. Welcome home" Thorin said in greeting, a small smile forming on his face.<p>

The two brothers shared a smile before running up the last few steps before colliding with their uncle, hugging him simultaneously. "It's good to see you uncle," Kili greeted honestly.

"Kili." Another voice came from inside the house, as she slowly walked out towards them.

"Fili." The same voice said, but in a completely different tone.

Fili took a step back, breaking the hug that he shared with Thorin. Kili broke the hug also, but remained stood next to his uncle as they both turned to watch the interaction.

"Hello mother."


End file.
